Groton enters the first round of the Section 4 football tournament with a 7-0 record

Every week this section will preview five of the top local sporting events for the weekend.

The Groton football team’s reward for narrowly defeating the defending state champions last week to finish the regular season undefeated? Another date with the champs.

A week after edging Tioga by four points at home, Groton (7-0) welcomes the Tigers (3-4) to town again on Friday at 7 p.m. in the first round of the Section 4 Class D tournament.

Dylan Cooper ran for a score and also caught a touchdown in last week’s victory for the Indians, who are ranked No. 7 in the state in Class D by the New York State Sportswriters Association. Tioga had fourth-and-goal trailing 20-16 in the final minutes of the game but Groton’s defense kept the Tigers out of the end zone. Groton’s defense also had a 45-yard fumble return for a TD and Cooper recovered a Tioga fumble in the red zone in the win.

Groton, which was eliminated in the first round of sectionals last year by Deposit-Hancock, defeated its first six opponents of the season by an average margin of 24 points before squeaking by Tioga.

The winner will face the winner of Elmira Notre Dame and Unatego/Franklin in the semifinals next week.

Every week this section will preview five of the top local sporting events for the weekend.

Cornell women hit the ice: The Big Red women’s hockey team begins its regular season on Friday and Saturday when it hosts Mercyhurst (1-2-1) at 3 p.m. at Lynah Rink both days. Cornell is coming off a 10-0 exhibition victory over Carleton University last Friday.

The Big Red have made the ECAC Hockey playoffs nine straight years and have played in the final in six of the past seven seasons. Cornell returns three of its top five scorers from a year ago: forward Hanna Bunton (13 goals-14 assists), forward Kaitlin Doering (7-11) and defenseman Micah Hart (1-17).

Senior Paula Voorheis and sophomore Marlene Boissonnault will once again share time in goal.

Doug Derraugh enters his 12th season as head coach at Cornell with a 202-126-28 record.

Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for children.

Cornell men’s hockey tunes up: As the women begin their season, the men’s hockey team continue to prepare for next week’s opener when it hosts two Canadian schools this weekend at Lynah Rink. Cornell faces the University of Ontario Institute of Technology on Friday at 7 p.m. and Brock University on Saturday night at 7. Tickets are $15.

Top runners heading to Marathon: Every state-ranked high school boys and girls cross country team in Section 4 except for one Broome County school will be gathering in Cortland County on Saturday for the Marathon Invitational. Races begin at 9 a.m.

An interesting matchup on the boys side will be between Class AA schools Corning and Ithaca. Corning is ranked No. 1 in the state and Ithaca is No. 4. Trumansburg, which is ranked No. 7 in the state in Class D, will will also be looking to knock off a No. 1 team — Elmira Notre Dame.

Ithaca and Corning will also be competing for first on the girls side. Corning is ranked No. 4 in the state and Ithaca comes in at No. 17. Other schools competing are Lansing, which is ranked No. 22 in Class C, and Trumansburg, which is No. 3 in Class D.

Ithaca College volleyball looks for ninth straight: The Bombers women’s volleyball team is riding an eight-game win streak win it begins a doubleheader on Saturday at Ben Light Gymnasium. Ithaca (20-4) hosts Utica College (6-24) at 11 a.m. and then welcomes Houghton College (10-10) at 4 p.m.

Earlier in the week, freshman Caitlyn Floyd was named Empire 8 Athlete of the Week for her work at the Wellesley Invitational. Floyd tallied 51 assists, 11 kills and 10 digs during the Bombers’ three victories.